Salt, or sodium chloride (NaCl), is well known. While salt imparts a desirable flavor to food, too much use can result in long term adverse health risks. Because of the proliferation of salt in prepared foods and other products found in a grocery store, many people exceed the average recommended daily intake. Exceeding the recommended daily intake of sodium is a significant risk factor in developing high blood pressure and a cause or contributing factor in the rising incidence of heart disease. As such, medical professionals and governmental authorities recommend a reduction in per capita salt consumption of from about 10 to 12 g per day to a level of about 6 g per day, which is equivalent to 2400 mg of sodium.
The most recent Dietary Guidelines issued in the U.S. suggest a proposed consumption limit of 2300 mg of sodium per day and the American Heart Association even suggests a more stringent limit of 1500 mg of sodium per day. The Institute of Medicine also recommends a potassium consumption limit of 4,700 mg per day. Typically potassium consumption is less than half of that level.
Because of these and other reasons, there are a variety of salt substitutes in the market. The classical approach to production of salt substitutes involves combining the sodium and potassium salts, or occasionally magnesium salts, in various ratios and adding a wide variety of other additives to this mix. The other additives are generally added to mask or at least partially reduce the generally metallic or bitter taste of potassium that has generally been associated with salt substitutes containing potassium. The processing techniques used to make these products include, among others, simple blending, agglomeration, extrusion cooking, and the like.
Examples of salt substitutes are numerous. One type relates to a salt substitute that includes an inner core of potassium chloride coated with a carrier (e.g., a food additive such as maltodextrin), an inner core of potassium chloride coated with a mixture of carrier and sodium chloride, and an inner core of potassium chloride coated with a mixture of carrier, sodium chloride, and cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate). The process of making these salt substitutes includes coating the potassium chloride with a solution of carrier, carrier and sodium chloride, or a mixture of carrier, sodium chloride, and cream of tartar.
While traditional salt substitutes may be satisfactory in topical applications or for direct application to food just prior to consumption, they easily dissociate in various food processing operations. This dissociation can result in an undesirable taste associated with the individual components (e.g., the metallic taste of potassium chloride). Thus, traditional salt substitutes are often unsatisfactory for processed food applications.